Supervisor pay hike quashed

A proposal to slightly increase pay for County Board members to attend committee meetings was easily voted down by supervisors.

Gary Frank said committee compensation is “out of line” because it’s $15 less than the pay for regular board sessions.

“I think you spend more time and more effort in a committee meeting — certainly you provide more input in a committee meeting — than you do in board meetings,” Frank said.

He proposed increasing committee pay $5 to $65. The per diem for regular meetings is $75.

Frank said that with overall board compensation was declining in 2016 by $25,000 — mostly because of cuts borne by board chairman Lee Rymer — there was money available for the raise, which would cost about $4,000.

Rose Stellmacher seconded Frank’s motion.

‘It’s time to look at ways supervisors are compensated,” she said. ‘I know for myself I spend hours and hours on different county board meetings, and going over everything and phone calls and what have you, and that’s myself personally, I know there’s many, many other supervisors who do the same.”

Greg Sekela agreed board members were underpaid.

“However, I don’t want the headlines to read, ‘County board denies raises to employees and gives itself a raise,’” he said. “I think our employees come first, and until we can give them a raise, I don’t think I can support one for this board, although I’d like to have one.”

County employees will not receive an across-the-board increase in 2016, though about two-thirds of them will receive more because they moved up a step on the pay schedule.

Jerry Beekman and Bill Grady expressed opposition, saying this wasn’t the time to change supervisor pay.

“Law Enforcement (committee) spent a lot of time on this, and I think it should stay the way it is,” Grady said.

Paul Bednarik said that while $60 and $75 may sound expensive for taxpayers, it’s not when supervisors make proposals and suggestions that save money or make the county better.

Suggesting that $100 and $150 would not be unreasonable, Bednarik added that taxpayers are less concerned as much with amount of per diem and more with the value they receive for it.

The vote on the board compensation as originally proposed was approved 29-1, with Joyce Stoegbauer opposed.

There was no change to the existing pay schedule, under which the board chair receives $7,200 annually and the vice chair $500 annually, along with payment for attending meetings to committees on which they serve.

The board earlier this year approved language preventing the board chair from claiming per diem for attending any committee meeting or outside meetings of county interest. The board also ended the practice of providing county-paid health insurance for the chair.